At Last, Egypt Settles On Presidential Candidates

Amr Moussa, the front-runner in the Egyptian presidential race, speaks during a press conference in Cairo on Apr. 22. The country's election commission said Thursday that Moussa and 12 other candidates are eligible to compete in next month's election.

Ahmed Shafiq, who served as prime minister under Hosni Mubarak, will be allowed to take part in Egypt's presidential race. The country's election commission said Thursday that he is eligible, one day after he had been ruled ineligible. In this photo, he's shown speaking at a news conference in February 2011.

Amr Nabil
/ AP

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Originally published on April 26, 2012 4:27 pm

After months of anticipation, and just a few weeks before the voting, Egypt now has a list of 13 officially approved presidential candidates.

Amr Moussa, the former secretary-general of the Arab League, is one of the 13, and he is ahead in most opinion surveys in advance of the May 23-24 election.

And in a reversal, Egyptian election officials agreed Thursday to let one of Hosni Mubarak's former prime ministers run for president.

The candidate, Ahmed Shafiq, was allowed to re-enter the race after he was disqualified a day earlier. The reversal drew angry reactions from one key Islamist group, and some analysts believe it could complicate, or even derail the election.

The Muslim Brotherhood, which easily won the most votes in parliamentary elections several months ago, said in a message on its website that the election commission was playing politics.

At a televised news conference, the chairman of the election commission, Farouq Sultan, waved off journalists who questioned their decision. We know better than you what the law is, he told the journalists.

Potential Legal Issues And Delays

But some analysts say it is not that simple.

"This will threaten the whole presidential elections process, and possibly the whole transition process as well," said Omar Ashour, a visiting scholar at the Brookings Center in Doha, Qatar.

At issue is the law that was used to ban Shafiq in the first place. The law was approved by parliament and later by the military junta. The constitutional court will review the ban within 45 days.

But that means the ruling could come after the election, and it could lead to additional legal challenges, Ashour said.

The ensuing legal quagmire, he added, could give the ruling generals the leverage to impose delays if they don't like the winning candidate.

"The generals want someone who does not challenge their status quo too much, who does not push forward a revolutionary change in civil and military relations," said Ashour. "If the results are radically worrying for them, then they may use the constitutional court decision."

But Sultan, the chairman of the election commission, said the decision to reinstate Shafiq is final. He told reporters that if Shafiq is elected president, he will be allowed to remain in that post even if the court upholds the law banning him.

But Shafiq faces an uphill battle at the polls. Moussa is considered the favorite, and two Islamist candidates are also expected to make a strong showing.

One is Abdul Moneim Aboul Fotouh, a former Muslim Brotherhood leader whose moderate stance has won him widespread secular support.

The other is the Brotherhood's own candidate, Mohammed Mursi, who heads the movement's political party that holds nearly half the seats in parliament.

Copyright 2013 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.

Transcript

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

The slate is set for next month's Egyptian presidential elections. Officials have approved 13 candidates. And in an unexpected reversal, one of Hosni Mubarak's former prime ministers is back on the list. That decision angered a key Islamist group. And as NPR's Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson reports from Cairo, some analysts believe the move could derail the election.

SORAYA SARHADDI NELSON, BYLINE: The decision allowing Ahmed Shafiq to re-enter the race, after he was disqualified a day earlier, caught many Egyptians by surprise. The Muslim Brotherhood, in a message on its website, angrily accused the election commission of playing politics. Election officials dismissed such criticism as sour grapes.

UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE: (Foreign language spoken).

NELSON: At a televised news conference, election commission chairman Farouk Sultan waved off journalists who questioned the reversal. We know better than you what the law is, the senior judge said. But some analysts say it's not that simple.

OMAR ASHOUR: This will threaten the whole presidential elections process and possibly, the whole transition process as well.

NELSON: That's Omar Ashour, a visiting scholar at the Brookings Center in Doha. At issue is the law that was used to ban Shafiq in the first place, one approved by Parliament and later, by the military junta. The Constitutional Court will review the ban within 45 days. That review is after the election, which means a decision upholding the ban could lead to other legal challenges, Ashour says. He adds the ensuing legal quagmire could give the ruling generals the leverage they need to call a new election if they don't like the winning candidate.

ASHOUR: The general wants somebody who does not challenge their status quo too much, and does not push forward a revolutionary change in the civil and military relations. If the results are radically worrying for them, then they may use the Constitutional Court decision.

NELSON: The election commission chairman, however, says the decision to reinstate Shafiq was final.

FAROUK SULTAN: (Foreign language spoken).

NELSON: Sultan told reporters that if the former prime minister is elected president, he will be allowed to remain in that post even if the court upholds the law. But Shafiq faces an uphill battle at the polls. Amr Moussa, the former secretary general of the Arab League, is ahead in most surveys. And two Islamist candidates are also expected to make a strong showing.

One is Abdul Moneim Aboul Fotouh, a former Muslim Brotherhood leader whose moderate stance has won him widespread secular support. The other is the Brotherhood's own candidate, Mohammed Mursi, who heads the movement's political party that holds nearly half the seats in Parliament.

SAFWAT ABDEL GHANI: (Foreign language spoken).

NELSON: At a news conference, Safwat Abdel Ghani, of the hard-line Jama'a al-Islamiya, said his group was wavering between the two Islamist candidates. The Brotherhood's main competitor, the Salafist Nour Party, says it, too, has not decided whom to endorse.